Thursday, December 28, 2006

Cathedral 'must be open to Muslim prayers’

There is a most interesting article in today’s Guardian in which it is reported that Spanish Muslims have demanded that the Pope grant them permission to worship alongside Christians in Córdoba’s magnificent cathedral. It would be a further sign of his 'tolerance' of Islam, after the insult he gave in Regensburg.

Of course, this particular cathedral was once a mosque, only being converted in the 13th century, and one may therefore have sympathy with the Muslim demand that it (partially) revert to its former use. Yet the letter sent to the Pope, by the president of the Islamic Board of Spain, Mansur Escudero, is most curiously worded:

"We invite you to create a new example, to send a message of hope to the world. Do not fear. Together we can show the violent, the intolerant, the anti-semites, the Islam-phobes and also those who believe that only Islam has a right to remain in the world, that prayer is the strongest weapon imaginable."

It is curious because of its manifest ambiguity. A message of tolerance must be sent, but the Pope must send it. It must be sent to various ‘intolerant’ groups, and also to those ‘who believe that only Islam has the right to remain in the world’. What sort of message does it send to these? The Pope offends us, we riot and murder, the Pope apologises. We demand the right to pray in a cathedral, the Pope acquiesces. At the very least, Islam perceives the symbolic leader of the world’s Christians to be subject to its demands, and most compliant in the face of threats.

And what sort of prayers would be offered in this cathedral-mosque? The letter states quite clearly that they are ‘inspired by the optimism caused by the image of Your Holiness in the Blue Mosque saying a prayer shoulder to shoulder in Islamic style’. So there you have it. It is the Christians who will be expected to adapt their mode of worship to the ‘Islamic style’. It would not be too long before the Bible was replaced with the Qur'an, Jesus became Isa, and there was no mention of his divinity 'for fear of causing offence'.

They do, however, graciously confirm that they ‘do not intend to take control of the building or recover a nostalgic Al Andalus’ (the Islamic term for most of modern Spain), but rather they seek to restore the ‘spirit of Al Andalus’. And what is this ‘spirit’? It is the spirit of the dar-al-Islam; the spirit of Islamic religio-political supremacy; of territorial ownership; the spirit of total submission to Allah and his prophet Mohammed. One may quite rationally fear this ‘spirit’, which is not only intolerant of other religious practices; it is antithetical to the Enlightenment principles of Western civilisation.

Cranmer understands the letter is in the Pope’s in-tray. An outright rejection risks causing great offence, as seems to be very easily taken, and innocent nuns may once again be slaughtered by the barbaric masses. So Cranmer suggests a polite reminder to Spain’s Muslims that this site in Córdoba was, in fact, a church before it was a mosque, which the invading Moors destroyed in order to assert their political supremacy. Or how about a quid pro quo? We’ll give you back Córdoba’s mosque, if you give us back Istanbul’s 6th-century Byzantine Hagia Sophia Church, which was converted into a mosque when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453.

It is quite simple. They must repent of their Sins and sin no more...........and seek to become good Roman Catholics. It is so simple that it makes one wonder about the intellectual level of Muslims that they cannot see that a Crucifix is an impediment to those who do not accept Christ.

Having read David Pawson's book The Challenge of Islam to Christians( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Challenge-Islam-Christians-David-Pawson/dp/0340861894 )it is clear to me that Yahweh and Allah are emphatically not the same.

It would therefore be no more appropriate for Catholics to allow Muslims to pray in Cordoba Cathedral than to allow Satanists to conduct a ritual sacrifice or Spiritualists to conduct a séance.

See 2 Corinthians 6:14-16: '14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."'

"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil."Luke 6:27-35

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."Matthew 5:43-48

I thought that the Sofia Mosque had already been given back? I may be wrong, please correct me if I am. I notice that you boast of Peter Hitchens' praise for your blog. I'm not sure I would. He argued with me (I have been translating classical Arabic texts for many years) that there is no evidence that Muslim women should wear a hijab. Apparently he thinks that reading an English translation of the Qur`an makes him an authority. He is also on record as declaring that dyslexia does not exist and that it is an excuse made by parents of stupid children. The man is a buffoon!

Wow! I've just read some of the comments made by Christians. You really are a sweet bunch. Jesus would be proud. I wonder if the Daily Mail readers know about Peter Hitchens' comments about "toga-wearing barbarians"? This is the man who told me that he has many Muslim friends. I bet they don't know he thinks they are barbarians. Didn't I tell you he is a buffoon? What kind of idiotic comparison is that? Was the Mosque at Mecca formerly a church?

About His Grace:

Archbishop Cranmer takes as his inspiration the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby: ‘It’s interesting,’ he observes, ‘that nowadays politicians want to talk about moral issues, and bishops want to talk politics.’ It is the fusion of the two in public life, and the necessity for a wider understanding of their complex symbiosis, which leads His Grace to write on these very sensitive issues.

Cranmer's Law:

"It hath been found by experience that no matter how decent, intelligent or thoughtful the reasoning of a conservative may be, as an argument with a liberal is advanced, the probability of being accused of ‘bigotry’, ‘hatred’ or ‘intolerance’ approaches 1 (100%).”

Follow His Grace on

The cost of His Grace's conviction:

His Grace's bottom line:

Freedom of speech must be tolerated, and everyone living in the United Kingdom must accept that they may be insulted about their own beliefs, or indeed be offended, and that is something which they must simply endure, not least because some suffer fates far worse. Comments on articles are therefore unmoderated, but do not necessarily reflect the views of Cranmer. Comments that are off-topic, gratuitously offensive, libelous, or otherwise irritating, may be summarily deleted. However, the fact that particular comments remain on any thread does not constitute their endorsement by Cranmer; it may simply be that he considers them to be intelligent and erudite contributions to religio-political discourse...or not.

The Anglican Communion has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning.Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961

British Conservatism's greatest:

The epithet of 'great' can be applied only to those who were defining leaders who successfully articulated and embodied the Conservatism of their age. They combined in their personal styles, priorities and policies, as Edmund Burke would say, 'a disposition to preserve' with an 'ability to improve'.

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS.(Prime Minister 1979-1990)

We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC.(Prime Minister 1957-1963)

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can).(Prime Minister 1940-1945, 1951-1955)

I am not struck so much by the diversity of testimony as by the many-sidedness of truth.Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC.(Prime Minister 1923-1924, 1924-1929, 1935-1937)

If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the military, nothing is safe.Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC.(Prime Minister 1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895-1902)

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.Benjamin Disraeli KG, PC, FRS, Earl of Beaconsfield.(Prime Minister 1868, 1874-1880)

Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.Sir Robert Peel, Bt.(Prime Minister 1834-1835, 1841-1846)

I consider the right of election as a public trust, granted not for the benefit of the individual, but for the public good.Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.(Prime Minister 1812-1827)

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.The Rt Hon. William Pitt, the Younger.(Prime Minister 1783-1801, 1804-1806)